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Monday, May 28, 2012

These two blurbs--one from my blog and one from the Night of the Purple Moon page on Amazon—I think sum up my existence. Writer of YA and MG novels, mysteries, screenplays, picture books, magazine features, newspaper articles, and poetry. I've tackled just about everything except a stage play. Scott Cramer and his wife reside outside Boston in a soon-to-be empty nest/zoo/suburbanfarm/art studio with too many surfboards in the garage.

Favorite reads?

When I am writing fiction I often like to read non-fiction. For the past year, I have worked my way through every mountain climbing book on the library shelves. Big mountains, that is: Mt. Everest, K2, Denali… Complex, confident individuals embark on incredibly dangerous endeavors, and quite often they find themselves in very perilous situations.

Inspirations for Night of the Purple Moon?

Number the Stars by Lois Lowery and Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt. Each novel features kids

facing incredible odds. In Night of the Purple Moon, I wanted to create a situation where the

odds were greater and the stakes higher. Finally, I loved The Hunger Games. The novel handles

life-and-death situations with page-turning drama. One of my goals was to write a book that a

reader would not want to put down.

Did you know you wanted to be an author when you were little?

Author was number three on the list. First was being a gold prospector. Second was a jet pilot.

Today I try to catch episodes of Discovery Channel’s Gold Rush. And a few years ago I had the

opportunity of a lifetime when I wrote magazine articles on the Navy Blue Angels and Air Force

Thunderbirds demonstration jet teams. I flew with each team. I am proud to say that in an F-18

For months, astronomers have been predicting that Earth will pass through the tail of a comet.They say that people will see colorful sunsets and, best of all, a purple moon.

But nobody has predicted the lightning-fast epidemic that sweeps across the planet on the night of the purple moon. The comet brings space dust with it that contains germs that attack human hormones. Older teens and adults die within hours of exposure.

On a small island off the coast of Maine, a group of teens and children struggle to survive in this new world, but all the while they have inside them a ticking time bomb - adolescence.

*Giveaway*

(Ends 6/26)

The author only asks if you enjoy the book to post a review on Amazon.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Thorn is a retelling of the classic fairy tale The Goose Girl by debut author Intisar Khanai.
Synopsis: Princess Alyrra’s strength lies in silence. Scorned by her family, she avoids the court, spending her time with servants. When her marriage is unexpectedly arranged with the prince of a powerful neighboring kingdom, Alyrra feels trapped. As the court celebrates her match, dark rumors spread about the unexplained deaths of the women of her new family. Alyrra begins her journey with mounting trepidation. Betrayed while traveling, she seizes an opportunity to start a life away from court.

Walking away from a prince whom she doesn’t know should have been easy. But from the moment she sets eyes on him, Alyrra realizes that her freedom could cost him his life. Without any magical defense of her own, she is plunged into a lethal game of sorcery and deceit. Now Alyrra must decide whom she can trust and what she’s willing to fight for—before her silence proves fatal.

As a rule I love fairytale retellings, and The Goose Girl is perhaps one of my favorites of all time. With such expectations for Thorn, I am pleased to announce that it did not disappoint!

At the start, I was worried that Princess Alyrra would turn out to be a whimpering damsel-in-distress. But she proved quite the opposite. Alyrra had a core of iron. She wasn't spoiled by her position in life and she didn't shirk from a hard job. Prince Kestren, though cold in the beginning, quickly revealed a depth to his character, and it was interesting to see how his character shifted throughout the tale.

Characters: 4.2 Stars

As I said before, I love everything about the Goose Girl. I love the magic, the mystery, the frustration as the the villain lives her life in the princess's place. Even more layers of plot existed in Thorn. Though Valka (Alyrra's counterpart) was evil, after she was overcome there was an even greater evil to conquer. All in all it was quite satisfactory. I would liked to have seen a bit more romance between Allyra and Kestren, but there was enough to make the book worthwhile and leave room for their relationship to grow.

Plot: 4.5 Stars

Intisar Khanani's writing was straightforward while still lending the story beauty and building depth to the world. Told in first-person point of view, Alyrra's environment was shaded through her eyes and helped me root for her. I'm definitely looking forward to future books!

Guys! This is so cool! As part of the book tour, Intisar Khanani is giving away a fantasy cloak that she made herself on a giveaway spanning all blogs participating in the tour!

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Monday, May 14, 2012

I bill myself as the peculiar eclectic writer. I am a scientist from Latin America, but I decided to fulfill my dream of writing something besides technical articles only recently. This I began to do by publishing my work under the pen name "Phantomimic" on the document sharing site Scribd.com, where my stories accumulated more than one hundred thousand reads and hundreds of comments. Based in part on this enthusiastic response to my work, I decided to take it to the next level. My first book on the Amazon Kindle is the collection of short stories entitled: "The Sun Zebra".

Favorite reads?

The book’s I’ve liked the most are Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Rowling’s Harry Potter books, Asimov’s Foundation and Robot books, Dan Simmons’ Hyperion books, and Gabriel Garcia Marques’ One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Inspirations for the book?

I was inspired to write my book “The Sun Zebra” by a picture of a real sun zebra. I can’t tell you more without spoiling the first story.

Did you know you wanted to be an author when you were little?

More like when I was in high school and college but I got sidetracked into a scientific career that did involve writing but it was mostly technical stuff.

Any Pet Peeves?

I like to have some things always in certain places and it annoys me when people remove them and place them elsewhere.

Chocolate or Peanut Butter?

Cholocate!

The weirdest thing you've ever done?

I stuck my hand into a bowl full of oil and vinegar at a restaurant. I mistook it for the bowl where they kept the pennies for glass bottle refunds. You should have seen the face of the person to whom the bowl of oil and vinegar belonged too.

Ideally I need peace and rest, but that is in short supply in today’s world. So I settle for waiting to “get into the mood” to write.

How long do you write on any average day?

Average is misleading. I write in fits and starts. I go for many days without writing and then all of sudden I may write several thousand words in a couple of days.

Give us the number one reason to read your book.

My book “The Sun Zebra” is unique, fun, and inspirational. I describe it as a children’s book for grownups. It is a collection of short stories that deal with the “adventures in living” of an unusual little girl named Nell, her mother, Rhonda, and Nell's father who is the narrator of the stories. The stories deal with how the world of adults and its hard realities intersects with the magical carefree world of children.

A collection of family-friendly stories about the "adventures in living" of an unusual little girl named Nell, her mother, Rhonda, and Nell's father who is the narrator of the stories. The stories deal with how the world of adults and its hard realities intersects with the magical carefree world of children. Their purpose is to help us discover or rediscover what it is to see the world through the eyes of a child.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

I was raised in rural, western Michigan and after 4 years at Michigan State, I started a career in Advertising. I was in the Creative Department and spent 20 years working on such accounts as Pontiac, Cadillac, FTD, Mr. Goodwrench and many others. After that, I published a travel and history magazine for boaters in the Great Lakes. That kept me busy for the next ten years and during that time, I did get to write two books. Of course, they were about places to stay and restaurants not to miss. Some years back, I slowed things down a little and started a small computer consulting firm. This allowed me time to pursue things I’d never don e before. One was to work on a weekly comic strip with my old Art Director buddy, Bill Savage. Together we do “Cannville,” a really off-the-wall look at life. (www.cannville.com). While that’s fun and I love doing it, I had always wanted to write fiction… After several shorter efforts, I started working on the project that became, “Angela’s Coven” and my reading circle went crazy over it! I finished it and within weeks, I had it under contract to Museitup Publishing. It was released last October as an E- book and comes out as a paperback in the relative near future. Book #2 in the series, “The Great Northern Coven,” is scheduled to release, October 19th, 2012.

Favorite reads?I’ve always been a big fan of the paranormal, especially Steven King and Hans Holzer. But I also love the action and adventure of Clive Cussler. And everybody loves a good hero! I’m told I bring a nice mix of action-packed paranormal to the E-book shelves.

Inspirations for the book?Like I said, I’ve always been a big fan of the paranormal and there are those in my family who could share some very interesting experiences with us all. Also, I love Halloween and the only thing I love more than Halloween is History. I found myself actually studying the history of the traditions, icons and myths associated with my favorite holiday and I was surprised and amazed at what I was finding out. Did you know that the first women ‘accused’ of being witches back in the Dark Ages were actually nothing more than the village midwife practicing what we would today, call home remedies and holistic medicine? Here’s a surprise, the accusations came from the leaders of the organized church. See, the Church was training men to be Physicians but the women had a better success rate due to the fact they were not limited in their examinations by the decency laws of the Church. Women could get behind the bed curtains and better treat maladies of the day. Labeling them as ‘witches’ and being ‘in league with the devil’ was a way of leveling the playing field for the men without allowing any ‘indecent’ patient examinations. That whole image we have of long nosed witches with hairy warts and green skin is just part of the myth the Church created to scare people into seeking male physicians for their health care needs, rather than the traditional midwife. After burning a number of them at the stake, the midwives whopracticed their ancient healing art went underground where they have pretty well stayed for thepast thousand years or more. Only since the enlightenment of the 1960s have they begun to comeforward again. It made me wonder, what technological advances the art might have made while it was out of public view? After all, in the past thousand years, we’ve made some great breakthroughs and can do things not even dreamed of back then. Well, maybe the midwives have been busy, too! Think of it this way, they very first time you saw a DVD player, did you think it was a great technical achievement? Or did you think it was the work of the devil himself and did you try to burn the Best Buy guy at the stake? Exactly. So, I had some fun with it and allowed my Cabbottown witches to fight their own battles, their way, the best way they know how. What we have, is an inspiring, empowering story that will not only entertain you, but make you think about everything you believe in. And I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it for you!

Did you know you wanted to be an author when you were little?I’m from an entire family of school teachers, so at least I was well-armed at an early age with the necessary skills. But what really inspired me to write, or rather who inspired me to write, was my Uncle, Tom Shawver. Tom came to our family by marriage and was a newspaper journalist for the Detroit Free Press in those days. I remember one holiday in particular when I was in grade school. We were at my grandparent’s farm house and Tom was under some deadline. After dinner, and some small talk, he excused himself to take his portable typewriter into the bedroom just off the living room and get a story finished to turn in the next morning. I could hear him in there, pounding away and I remember thinking, “there he is in there, making up a story and getting paid to do it! What a great gig!” And that drew me away from teaching and into the world of arts and letters. Later, Tom would be part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the 1967 Detroit riots. When you’ve got a Pulitzer Prize winner in the family, it takes a lot of courage to sit down at that keyboard with your coffee!

Any Pet Peeves?Oddly, when I’m writing, it’s my pet that peeves me the most, really! I love dogs. I grew up with dachshunds. My current ‘best friend’ is a red and black, long-haired, miniature wiener dog named Fitz. I know, it’s an Irish name, but he came to us when we owned a Great Lakes travel and history magazine and his real name is Heilsher’s Edmund Fitzgerald… What? They were both long and red! Fitz is getting up there. At 13 ½, he’s turned into a demanding curmudgeon of an old man not really attuned to anyone else’s needs but his own. On days I decide to work in the recliner with my lapdesk and laptop, he likes to sleep while stretched out between my knees with the computer over the top of him. Well, the game is these days, that you can’t get him interested in sitting with you until you give up, get your feet up in the air and get all situated. THEN, he wants up and with bug you without mercy! At his age, it’s just not as easy as allowing him to jump up. You have to go give him a proper boost to make it. If I’m working at the desktop in my office, he’ll sit in the kitchen and make grunting and grumbling noises like an old man. I get up, leave the keyboard to see if he wants out. Usually, he’s just pointing the cookie cupboard. I try to get him to go out but he’s never interested. But let me go back to the office and just as soon as I sit down… he’s barking to go out and at his age, you don’t call his bluff! My wife keeps telling me she’s going to get me that T-shirt that says, “Today’s Agenda: Let dog out, Let dog in, Let dog out, Let dog in…” He can be a pain sometimes, but I will sure miss him when he’s gone. He’s a loveable old curmudgeon.

Chocolate or Peanut Butter?BOTH! Me and ET, suckers for those Reese’s thingies!

The weirdest thing you've ever done?Well, my first reaction to this one is to only go back to those where the statute of limitations have expired. And there’s probably a lot your follows would put under TMI (Too Much Information). But keeping it all printable, I would have to look back to the late 1960s. In an effort to extend the waterskiing season a little later into the Michigan fall, my brother, my cousin and myself tried skiing in our pajamas. Seriously. It did very little to keep the chilly winds and evaporating water off our skin, but the crazy thing is, it caught on. By the next day, we weren’t the only ones around the lake waterskiing in our pajamas! Then it became a competition of the loudest, ugliest waterskiing pajamas you could wear. So, of all the things I’ve done, scouring the stores of Grand Rapids for really ugly pajamas to go waterskiing in, would have to be up there. (This fad/ tradition continued on for a few seasons whenever it was a cooler, overcast day.)

Is there a soundtrack to the book/Favorite music?Absolutely! Angela’s Coven is about Reggie Sinclair, an aging rock star living in New York City. He’s a veteran of the British Invasion and was/is a solo artist during the whole Classic Rock era. The background to this story sounds like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan and countless others. But if I had to narrow it down to just one album, it would have to be “Eric Clapton Unplugged.” This story is about Reggie’s personal life and how it is affected by the witches far more than about his performing life. There are a couple of scenes on Aunt Maddy’s porch and in her parlor where I think you’ll feel that connection.

Do you need anything to write? Caffeine! In the early mornings, it’s my coffee cup and by lunch, I’m down to the nitty gritty of my Diet Coke. Give me a winter’s day with some fuzzy slippers and some comfy sweats and I’ll write you a novel! Concerning the other usual items writers are credited with having around, I find myself doing without and doing so by choice. As much as I love music, especially oldies and classic vinyl, I find I prefer it quiet when I’m writing. Music creates an emotion within me, be it a happy feeling when hearing a favorite song, or maybe a fond memory/sad memory of where I was at the time. If I’m busy killing someone on paper, these things just don’t go together! So… quiet, please. I want my emotions focused on my words.

How long do you write on any average day?If the rest of the world and the day job stay out of my way, I like to get started in the morning, by 7 or 7:30AM. I’ll take breaks but I’m pretty well wrapped by lunch. After lunch I’ll look at what I’ve done and massage it a little but generally, that puts me at a comfortable 1,500 words a day. Anything more and I can feel myself getting ‘mechanical’ about it and the ‘freshness of the flow' starts to disappear. If I’ve been off for a while, it takes me a while to get back up to that 1,500 word level. Sometimes, I may stretch it into the late afternoon if I’ve taken a lot of breaks or I’m pounding out a difficult passage. But if it’s dialog, dialog flows for me. I’ll have my quota in and be playing with my big boy toys before lunch.

Give us the number one reason to read your book.Because this one is different! There are no naked cowboy hunks or lingerie babes on the cover! Yes, these are modern-day witches but there are no pointy hats or magic wands allowed. It’s “Witchcraft—Unplugged!” With that we have characters that range from Lucifer’s henchman to young witches in training, to Guardian Angels as you’ve never seen them before. (Mine don’t have wings and flit about blessing people. Mine are more like a Secret Service protection squad and carry Berrettas.) his is really a story about starting over, second chances and it will cast a whole different light on anything you may have ever considered as faith. When you are done with Angela’s Coven, after you’ve laughed and cried and then laughed and cried again, I want you to think; “I want some of whatever Jenvey’s been smokin’!”

Reggie Sinclair is an aging British rock star living in New York City who has just found out he is terminally ill.

He also has a very dark secret: When he was still an undiscovered teenager, he sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his great fame and success.

As his life draws to an end, he prepares to face the inevitable until he stumbles upon a very enchanting, modern-day witch named Angela, and her untraditional coven.

Angela gradually introduces Reggie to her world of old school Witchcraft with its roots in alchemy and ‘natural chemistry’ dating to the Dark Ages. As their relationship grows, they devise a plan to break Reggie’s contract and save his soul.

This is a story of the struggle between good and evil with a cast of characters that ranges from guardian angels to young witches-in-training. Together, they have to come to terms with the uncertainties of love, loss, and life decisions to save Reggie from an unbearable eternity. Here is a plot filled with unexpected twists and surprises to the very last page that will also cast an entirely different light on anything you may have ever considered as faith!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Dr. George H. Elder has a Ph.D. from Penn State in Speech Communication and a Masters Degree in nonfiction Writing from UNH. He also has a very eclectic work and personal history. He has been a college teacher, custodian, upper-level scholar, drug addict, weight lifting coach, bouncer, and much more. He has authored numerous articles in the popular press and even a scientific text book that examines the neuropsychological basis of human communication. He has also addressed subjects such as philosophy, free speech, weight training, drug use, nutrient effects, street life, and a wide range of other issues. His varied life experiences and education give him a unique and interesting perspective, and he often weaves philosophical insights and pathos into his texts. His books are action-oriented, but they do not have simplistic plots wherein good vs. evil or some other hackneyed approach is used. Instead, Elder employs plot shifts that allow the characters and readers to question the relationships we often take for granted. For example, a hero may do great wrongs while a species once perceived as malicious can be revealed to be honorable and wise. This offers refreshing and exciting perspectives for readers as they delve into Elder's texts, for one never knows what to expect.

Favorite
reads?

I
love the ancients, and especially Plato's dialogues. Their depth is
impressive, even after 2,400 years. My favorite reads from modern
popular Sci-Fi authors are Dune by
Frank Herbert, Hitchhikers
Guide to the Galaxy by
Douglass Adams, and I,
Robot by
Isaac Asimov--which is probably my favorite. Of the more
obscure, I loved Escape
from Hell by
Niven & Pournelle. Hey, a writer sentensed to hell who finds a
way out is a good plot to me--and one I may have to use one day!

Inspirations
for the Book?The
Dr. Who series was right up there in terms of inspiring the
series, although a more savage version of Laura Croft was also a
factor. But what most inspired me was the philosophical underpinnings
of how we view ourselves and our roles in the universe. I wanted to
examine a character who held on to her faith and beliefs despite
being a traumatized outcast. She
feels like one of the chosen, destined by God to do great things. She
becomes disillusioned after discovering she is the creation of a
duplicitous people, and she is soon reduced to despising herself, her
history and her ideals. That journey into despair, and then back
out--well, that was the real inspiration. Hey, life ain't easy.

Did
you know you wanted to be an author when you were little?

I
never envisioned being an author when I was a child. Life was hard,
and I forged a dream world to escape some unpleasant realities. I
suspect it was the dreams and fantasies that drove me into writing,
although I didn't start getting published until I was in my late
twenties. At that time, I only wrote nonfiction, and had numerous
articles published in some large magazines. I didn't start writing
Sci-Fi until I was 55 of so!Pet
Peeves?The
arrogance that often goes hand-and-hand with being an academic is a
loathsome thing. I hated it when I was in the academy, and still
despise this kind of pretentious behavior.

Chocolate
or peanut butter?Definitely
chocolate, and all kinds of it. Creamy smooth peanut butter is nice,
but chocolates activate some neat neurotransmitters.

The
weirdest thing you've ever done.

I
was a drug addicted ne'er-do-well as a young man, and had a litany of
dreary and odd experiences. One of the strangest things I
did was take five hits of very powerful blotter acid (Mr.
Natural) to get me out of a dangerous depression. It was an
experience...

Is
there a sound track to the book/favorite music?

I got stuck in the classic rock-and-roll era, and just love that
stuff. I hate disco, rap, heavy metal, etc., and Classical music just
doesn't do all that much for me. Just give me some Lynyrd
Skynyrd, Billy Idol, or ELO when I feel a bit rowdy, or some America,
Simon and Garfunkel, or Cat Stevens when I want to be mellow. But
when I am writing, there can be no music.

Do you need anything to write?

Nah,
when my muse is at work, I get up in the morning and pounce on that computer. For the next four to seven hours, there is no time, no
nothing--just total focus. I love it! Then I tire, and need to
eat--and will not return to work until the following day. When my
muse isn't there, life sucks in general. In short, I need to be
on the hunt. I need to research and write. That is my reason for
being, and the only thing I can still do given my failing body.

How
long do you write on any average day?

It
varies, but I would say the average is four hours. However, I'm
always getting up to scribble down notes, sometimes with ideas that
will wake me from a sound sleep.

Give
us the number one reason to read this book.

Its
a compelling and adventurous quest story about the very
survival of existence--and a tale wherein one comes to care
about the characters. On a deeper level, Kara's search for a
reason/purpose is one we all must face sooner or later. Moreover, her
need to see herself for what she is and to change accordingly is also
something most of us deal with, however harsh the
realizations. In short, her journey leads to same end many of us
seek, a kind of shared being--call it love, if you will.

The universe’s expansion is nearing the inevitable end where everything is devoured by entropy. The key to having a future is a legendary metaphysical being known only through ancient tales. The last hope is to awaken this dormant Seeker, the missing energy source, who possesses the capacity to link the entire universe in thought and deed. The Seeker alone may be able to rekindle the sparks of a new universal cycle.

The remaining advanced species desperately want existence to continue, and send for missions to search for the Seeker. One mission unexpectedly and inexplicably materializes on a primitive world inhabited by the Labateen, a Stone-Age warrior culture. Here they encounter Kara, an outcast Labateen noble woman and fierce warrior. Kara knows details about the Seeker’s litany that go well beyond coincidence, although to Kara they are simply the ways ofGod.

Is Kara the key to locating the long lost Seeker? And what of the races who believe existence should end in an entropic whimper and who will not sit by while others attempt to alter the end of the universe. Lofty ideals give way to brutal pragmatism as a confederation of races struggles to survive and save existence.

ChildofDestiny is Book 1 of The Genesis Continuum trilogy. Book 2, Pursing a Legend, is available now on Kindle. Book 3, Forging a Future, will be available in early 2012.

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About Me

I LOVE to read! Mostly it's Fantasy, Sci-Fi, or Dystopian, but occasionally historical fiction as well.
Disclaimer: sometimes I rave, sometimes I squeak, sometimes I may pummel my audience verbally. Please bring your Dragon for protection. This blog is not responsible for any injuries resulting from lack of Dragon.